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Climate Change Conference Gets Mixed Reviews

Last Updated: November 11, 2009 7:13 AM

Climate Change Conference Gets Mixed Reviews

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Climate Change Conference Gets Mixed Reviews

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After two weeks of talks, presentations
and debates, the Bangkok Climate Change Talks ended Friday to mixed reviews. The talks are a prelude to a major climate
change summit in Copenhagen in December called Cop15.

The
chief of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change says "significant
advances" have been made. Yvo de Boer says
they can be used as a foundation for a new climate-change protocol in
Copenhagen.

U.S.
delegation head Jonathan Pershing says the Obama administration is working
toward a new policy, but adds it will take time. He says reaching "common ground" will require
"a substantial amount of additional work…creativity, flexibility and
practicality." Pershing spoke of the role
of developed countries in slowing climate change.

"Developed
countries would continue to lead…by committing to economy-wide major emissions
reductions in the near term and largely decarboninzing their economies by
mid-century," he says.

Proposed size of reduction

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Pershing
says, "In our framework, we look for an 80 percent reduction in that time
period. And for those who have followed
the work of the U.S. senate during our two weeks, new legislation is being
produced and introduced that will lead us down that path."

As
for developing countries, he says, "For major, advanced developing country
economies, we are seeking …national actions that can be quantified,
measured. That will achieve meaningful
reductions below business as usual in the mid-term," he says.

He
adds, "We do not expect specific emission reduction commitments…from smaller
and less advanced developing countries in the near term. The large majority of developing
countries…should focus on creating low carbon development plans with support
from the financial mechanism under the convention."

"Land use, including efforts to reduce
emissions from deforestation, can make significant contributions and must be
included in our deal," he says.

Was anything accomplished?

Tom
Sharman, head of climate change for the NGO ActionAid, says, "I think we've
seen very little progress. We've seen
some progress in some technical issues, but the main big stumbling blocks are
still there."

He
says rich nations bear the responsibility to remove those obstacles.

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"(They)
have so far failed to take the action they need to do that. They've failed to come up with meaningful
targets on emission reductions. They've
failed to put forward the money that's needed in order for developing countries
to tackle climate change," he says.

He
says prospects for a "just climate deal…(are) hanging by a thread. It's in serious trouble."

The U.S. says a climate deal will take
time.

Sharman
says, "Time is something we don't have.
With every month or year of inaction the scale of the challenge only
gets bigger. The amount of global
warming that's happening gets larger.
And that means the most vulnerable countries…face ever growing climate
impact."

The
U.S. has called for sustained technical and financial support for developing
countries.

"The
U.S. hasn't put a number on how much money is going to be available. Developing countries need about $200 billion
a year by 2020 to enable to both cut their own emissions and…adapt to the
climate change that is already inevitable," he says.

Sharman
says just how the money would be raised from donors also remains unclear.

"They
(developing countries) see that money as compensation. It's not a question of aid money. It's not a question of charity. It's a question of rich countries fulfilling
their historic responsibilities," he says.

ActionAid
praises Norway's decision at the Bangkok talks to "increase its unilateral
emissions reduction target to 40 percent on 1990 levels by 2020."

"Forty
percent is really the minimum target that all rich countries should be signing
up to," he says.

More climate talks for scheduled for
Barcelona in November, prior to the Copenhagen meeting.